Book

The Cyclops

Multiple Gouden Griffel winner Daan Remmerts de Vries has written a humorous story about a monster who doesn’t seem too bad at first, but turns out to be just a mean old cyclops in the end. He rewards the helpful locals who give him an eyeglass for his short-sighted eye by flattening their village.

To reflect this refreshing idea — some monsters will always remain monsters — Gouden Penseel winner Floor Rieder has provided linocut illustrations in secondary colours and robust lines. The comic-strip layout of some of the pages introduces exciting variety to the images: by zooming in and out, Rieder shifts her focus between the industrious but rather dopey villagers — who are various kinds of creepy-crawlies — and the self-obsessed cyclops. A subversive picture book with lots of laughs, by two unique talents.

An original, beautiful and clever picture book, an ode to thinking outside the lines.

De Standaard

An ingenious moral compass which proves that we need monsters in order to live our lives.

NRC

Photo: Johannes Abeling

Daan Remmerts de Vries

Daan Remmerts de Vries (b. 1962) actually wanted to become a musician. He wrote and played his own music and tried to make a go of it. When this didn’t work, he decided to start writing. In his books, he humorously holds up a mirror to parents and educators, but also to the children themselves.…